America may not enter into a free trade agreement with Britain if the UK Government persists with its plans to discard the Northern Ireland Protocol, Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker of the US Congress, has said.
In a strongly-worded intervention, Ms Pelosi urged the UK to continue negotiations with the EU on the protocol to keep peace in the region. She said: “The Good Friday Accords are the bedrock of peace in Northern Ireland and a beacon of hope for the entire world. Ensuring there remains no physical border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland is absolutely necessary for upholding this landmark agreement, which has transformed Northern Ireland.”
Her comments are a reminder of the ongoing interest in Northern Ireland at the highest levels in Washington, amid political instability following the Assembly election. The Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland is currently blocking the re-establishment of Stormont’s power-sharing institutions in protest at the protocol, which has created economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
